4 comments:

I can't imagine that was easy. But I also wondered why Archbishop Demetriod didn't make the Sign of the Cross or begin with "In the name of the Father..." I'm sure many in the crowd thought he was some kind of alien. God bless him!

How can he pray to the Father without mentioning Christ, the one Way and Mediator? No Trinity, no Cross = no one offended. BRAVO! St. Paul preached "Jesus and the Resurrection" to the pagans in Athens who knew nothing about the true God. Surely Abp. Demetrius can mention Christ at the RNC. So this must be the new "openness" the EP/GOA bishops boast about as they criticize other local churches in the clergy-laity conference video.

Well, I read the comments and expected worse. An explicit reference to the Heavenly Father, implicit and veiled references to His Son and His Spirit (obvious to those with ears to hear). Certainly Orthodox in the underlying ethos, with a generous (too generous?) acknowledgement of and adjustment to the "American Civil Religion" and it's expected norms of "public prayer".

I personally don't think we should be doing this sort of thing - that is participating in the American Civil Religion - particularly now that it is on its death bed and its children (i.e. ideological secularism, anti-Christianity, etc.) are in power. However there are those who disagree (i.e. that we should continue "to try" and "to dialogue") though they are largely of the generation of Abp. Demetrios himself...it won't be long to this sort of silliness is gone from the landscape...

The below is a huge blow to the idea of a united, canonical Orthodox Church in America. When ROCOR declared that they didn't want to be ...

"The World is trying the experiment of attempting to form a civilized but non-Christian mentality. The experiment will fail; but we must be very patient in awaiting its collapse; meanwhile redeeming the time: so that the Faith may be preserved alive through the dark ages before us; to renew and rebuild civilization, and save the World from suicide."